Contents

NOTE: This series is an odd sort of paranormal romance series with each book seeing a main hero find his HEA, yet it has a very strong urban fantasy feel thanks to the gritty storylines and flow from book to book. I tend to describe it more as UF rather than as PNR but just keep in mind that each book does have a HEA of sorts for the main couple. (source)

In this inventive world, an alternate U.S.A. is in a post-apocalyptic state fifteen years after a major supernatural war between two groups of powerful MetaHumans (aka Metas). Each Meta is born with some combination of psychic skills, shape-shifting abilities, superior strength, and/or other magical skills. ~ Fang-tastic: META WARS

quotation from Trance describing Meta history: “No one truly knew how the first MetaHumans received their powers. Reports of people with superhuman powers existed as far back as the American Civil War. The Pinkertons employed Metas, and some historians have argued that Billy the Kid and Harry Houdini were Metas. As our numbers grew in the early part of the 20th century, so did our notoriety. It wasn’t until our people were formally asked for help during the First World War that the divisions between us took hold and it planted the seeds of what would become the schism between the...Ranger Corps and the more nebulous “bad guy” Banes. And, while we could narrow down the start of the Rangers and Banes, we still didn’t know where Metas came from to begin with; no one seemed to know the source of it all.” (p. 113)

A post-apocalyptic state has existed for fifteen years after a major supernatural war between two groups of powerful MetaHumans (aka Metas). Each Meta is born with some combination of psychic skills, shape-shifting abilities, superior strength, and/or other magical skills.

For decades, the Rangers and the Banes maintained an uneasy coexistence as the Rangers attempted to keep the Banes under control. This was possible because the Banes didn’t band together, but either worked alone or in small groups. Then, 15 years ago, a man who going by the name Spector emerged with extremely powerful telepathic skills that allowed him to control—or possess—supernaturals and humans, even at a distance. Using this talent, Spector was able to unite the Banes into a huge, deadly army that far outnumbered the Rangers. Even worse, he could force his army to carry out his every order.

As the two groups fought, entire cities were destroyed and many innocents died. The public began to hate all Metas—both good and bad, blaming them for every terrible thing that happened. Eventually, in a final battle that nearly destroyed New York City, the powers of both the Rangers and the Banes suddenly disappeared, but not until after all of the adult Rangers were killed. The government imprisoned the surviving powerless Banes on Manhattan island, building a huge fence around it to keep them in. They gathered up the twelve surviving Ranger children and scattered them to foster homes across the country. As the series begins, all of the Rangers and Banes suddenly get their powers back—in one big flash, just the reverse of what happened 15 years ago. ~ Fang-tastic: Kelly Meding: META WARS SERIES

Trance (2011): Teresa West (aka Trance) — 10 almost 11 at the end of the Meta war. She was a skilled telepath—able to hypnotize people and alter their thoughts—and a proud member of the Ranger Corps. That all went away during the war. 10yrs later she gets her powers back and can create energy orbs. Becomes the leader of the same group of friends Gage was in charge of during the war.

Changeling (2012): Dahlia Perkins — has the ability to absorb and deflect massive amounts of heat and fire. Dahlia is struggling to find her place as the newest hero in an established team of former Rangers freelancing their abilities in post-Meta War Los Angeles.

Tempest (2013): Ethan "Tempest" Swift — interviewing Banes to determine which are still threats. armed with questions, he's also seeking the Bane who just might be his father. He begins to question his place in defending a world that sees him as its enemy.

Chimera (2013): Rene "Flex" Duvall — pushed to join forces with one of her team's mortal enemies: a Bane called Chimera. Growing up with blue skin never made Rene "Flex" Duvall feel like at outcast. She learned early on to put people at ease with her wit and exuberant personality. So she's certainly not going to let her façade crack when she and her teammates suddenly face a new breed of genetically manipulated and brainwashed Metas: the well-trained teenage criminals known as the Recombinants.

Bio: Native of the Delaware seashore, Kelly Meding lives in Maryland, with a neurotic cat who occasionally meows at ghosts. Kelly received her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication in 2002 and she hasn’t used it since, preferring instead to wile away her non-writing hours on the sales floor of a national retail chain. After discovering Freddy Krueger at a very young age, Kelly began a lifelong obsession with horror, science fiction, and fantasy, on which she blames her interest in vampires, psychic powers, superheroes, and all things paranormal. When not writing, she can be found crafting jewelry, enjoying a good cup of coffee, or scouring the Internet for gossip on her favorite television shows. She is the author of the Dreg City series from Dell. ~ A Christmas With… Kelly Meding | Tynga's Reviews

✤ BOOK ONE BLURB—Trance (2011): Kelly Meding’s war-ravaged Los Angeles is ground zero for the ultimate Meta human showdown in this sexy, action-packed new series. Fifteen years ago, Teresa “Trance” West was a skilled telepath and a proud member of the Ranger Corps. But ever since the Rangers were inexplicably rendered powerless at the climax of the devastating Meta War, she’s bounced from one dead-end job to another. Now her powers have reappeared just as mysteriously as they vanished— only they’re completely transformed and more potent than ever. And they’re threatening to destroy her. Trance heads to Los Angeles to track down the surviving Rangers and discover who restored her powers—and why—but a phantom enemy is determined to kill them before they can reassemble. As they dodge his deadly attacks and come to terms with their new role as heroes, Trance and the rest of the team set out to annihilate the sinister madman . . . only to discover their own powers are his greatest weapons. ~ Goodreads | Trance (MetaWars, #1) by Kelly Meding

✤ BOOK TWO BLURB—Changeling (2012): The second in a new series by popular urban fantasy author Kelly Meding, about an X-Men-like group of young people with superpowers who must find a way to work together. Five months ago, Dahlia Perkins was a struggling newspaper journalist whose biggest responsibility was paying her rent on time. After learning she has the ability to absorb and deflect massive amounts of heat and fire, Dahlia is struggling to find her place as the newest hero in an established team of former Rangers freelancing their abilities in post-Meta War Los Angeles. The team’s first major case: two discarded human skins. One is a John Doe, the other was a janitor for Weatherfield R&D, a scientific research and development firm Dahlia once investigated—and she’s itching to investigate them again. The ability to use and shed another person’s skin isn’t a power any of them have encountered before, nor something any of their former Meta enemies possess. But when a third skin appears and one of Dahlia’s teammates is nearly killed by an assassin’s bullet, it’s clear someone else besides Weatherfield is targeting the Rangers—and their killer may not be Meta at all. ~ Goodreads | Changeling (MetaWars, #2) by Kelly Meding

✤ BOOK THREE BLURB—Tempest (2013): The public doesn't trust them. The government wants to control them. Being a superhero has never been this hard, especially for Tempest. Two months after the discovery of the powerful, non-Meta Recombinants, the former Rangers—Meta-powered humans dedicated to preserving the peace—have made no progress in uncovering the newcomers' origins, or convincing the public to trust them. Newly powered Metas are popping up and causing trouble, while the former Banes—Metas who harm humans and create chaos—show no inclination that they even want to leave the island prison of Manhattan. With a presidential election looming, the hot political debate is all about Meta rights—and whether they deserve to have any. Still haunted by the murder of so many in the Meta War fifteen years earlier, Ethan "Tempest" Swift accepts an assignment in Manhattan, working with a team that's interviewing Banes to determine which are still threats and which have reformed. But Ethan has a personal reason for going to the island as well. Armed with questions for the Bane who just might be his father, Ethan's quest for answers is interrupted by an unexpected assault on the island. Forced to side with old enemies to uncover who's responsible for the devastating attack, Ethan begins to question more than just his past—he questions his place in defending a world that sees him as its enemy. ~ Goodreads | Tempest (MetaWars, #3) by Kelly Meding

✤ BOOK FOUR BLURB—Chimera (2013): A mysterious and dangerous conspiracy deepens, threatening the superpowered Rangers and pushing Flex to join forces with one of her team's mortal enemies: a Bane called Chimera. Growing up with blue skin never made Rene "Flex" Duvall feel like at outcast. She learned early on to put people at ease with her wit and exuberant personality. So she's certainly not going to let her façade crack when she and her teammates suddenly face a new breed of genetically manipulated and brainwashed Metas: the well-trained teenage criminals known as the Recombinants. When a desperate battle leaves one of their friends wounded, Renee and Ethan follow a clue to Manhattan Island, where the Banes have been imprisoned. There they find a Bane named Chimera, who refuses to cooperate despite possessing information that could help them stop the Recombinants. Chimera's emotional scars are as devastating as Renee's physical scars, and soon the two find common ground in shared pain. Against her better judgment, Renee forms an alliance with this Bane. They both can gain much from working together, so the only question is who has more to lose by cooperating. ~ Goodreads | Chimera (MetaWars, #4) by Kelly Meding

This series uses the term 'shape shifter' to mean a person who can take on various other forms, mostly animals in this world. Normally, elsewhere, this ability is called "shape changing". In the rest of Urban Fantasy, PNR and Fantasy, Shifters change into only one shape: wolf, Lion, bear, fox, etc. — Therefore this series is placed in the "Shape Changing" category, not the "Shape Shifter" category. It's based on ability, not name, in this case.